I said that City might finish fifth, but probably sixth. But I do think they might, and I stress just might - by the skins of their teeth - scrape into fourth and that final Champions League spot.

They added the experienced (and talented - not many defenders are as skilful as him) Kolo Toure to their squad yesterday and they look to have the makings of a good first XI, with some decent players coming off the bench.

However, I just don't think they quite have enough quality to break up the monopoly of the top four. It also takes time for a team to gel.

What do you think? Can City overtake Arsenal - especially now they have signed Emmanuel Adebayor and Toure from the Gunners?

Will City's players do well together or are there too many disruptive, difficult characters - Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Carlos Tevez (we all know how he was never shy to speak out about his situation last season) and Adebayor, to name but a few?

I also said that Antonio Valencia has not proved himself at the highest level, that is, he's not played for a top, top club like Man United, where the pressure is always on and you're expected to always produce.

I think he can likely handle the pressure, but whether he's good enough remains to be seen. In his favour he has a lot of energy, will always track back, has a high work rate and is certainly not short of a trick or two. He's also got a mean shot.

But whether he's quite up to scratch - I'm not so sure. He's good, but will Man United win the Champions League with him in their side? I doubt it. He's certainly no Ronaldo and United fans must not expect him to do what the Portugese did.

And as for what Gabriel Obertan will do, well, he's injured for now and will miss the start of the season. He could barely get a game for Bordeaux in the first half of last season and was then sent out on loan, so it was a surprise when Alex Ferguson bought him.

He was brilliant though at the Toulon youth tournament in June and has great potential.

United will miss Ronaldo terribly and I think they look a lot weaker on paper.

What do you think? Can United retain their title? Who will win the league? Should Alex Ferguson have splashed the cash more? How do you think Michael Owen will do? Can Valencia make a difference?

That's been the motto for Real Madrid this European summer as they've made one mind-blowing transfer after another.

It all started with Kaka, bought for a whopping $114m.

Then there was Cristiano Ronaldo, Madrid paying a record-destroying $163m for the Man United star.

He was then followed to Spain by Lyon's Karim Benzema, who cost a massive $61m.

And let's not forget Raul Albiol, who joined Real for what, in the scheme of things, seems a measly $26m.

Add in these players' wages and Madrid's outlay is mind-boggling.

Ronaldo alone will get a staggering $135m over six years.

And they've not finished yet.

They are constantly being linked with a big money move for Albiol's former Valencia teammate David Villa, while there's also Xabi Alonso, who seems sure to move from Liverpool to the Bernabeu for a minimum $60m.

And what about Franck Ribery. Rumours of a huge bid for the Bayern Munich star just won't go away.

But Madrid's president Florentino Perez says this incredible outlay is worth it.

Perez was re-elected in June, vowing a return to the Galactico era.

Galactico - or superstar - is the term used to describe the transfer policy during Perez's first tenure, when he purchased at least one megastar every summer.

Between 2000 and 2003 he splashed the cash on Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Brazil's Ronaldo and David Beckham.

The galactico policy resulted in huge financial success for the club as they exploited the players' marketing potential.

And Perez insists the same will happen again.

By building a team full of the world's best players to excite fans all over the planet, Perez insists he can generate huge revenues.

Apart from ticketing, the club makes its money from media rights and sports promotion.

And with Ronaldo and chums on the books, the club says it will renegotiate these contracts for a massive increase.

But there are serious question marks over this sporting model.

Firstly, the club is now massively in debt.

Last time around Perez had to sell Madrid's training ground to finance his scheme.

This time the club has taken out bank loans and now has a net debt of over half a billion dollars.

The club also reportedly owes another half a billion dollars in tax to the Spanish government, but Perez denies this.

In February 2009, Deloitte announced that Madrid's revenue for 2007/08 was 366 million euro ($636 million), putting the club at the top of football's money list.

However, Deloitte's study was based on revenue figures and did not take into account the club's debt.

And secondly, history shows there is no guarantee of winning trophies.

After initial success during the first galactico era, Real then failed to win a trophy for four years after their 2002-03 league title.

So what price Ronaldo and co finishing second again in La Liga to a Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona?

I wouldn't bet against it.

And another thing ...

I think Inter Milan are the big winners over Barcelona in the transfer deal - likely to go through early this week - which will see Zlatan Ibrahimovic move to the Nou Camp in exchange for Samuel Eto'o and a reported $87m

(The deal which is seeing Alex Hleb move to Inter apparently has nothing to do with this transfer. It is seemingly related to Maxwell's move to Barcelona.)

I rate Ibrahimovic highly. His goal-scoring record in Italy is exceptional, and he's played a key role in Inter's domestic success over the last three seasons. But I don't think the deal adds up.

There is no way Ibrahimovic is worth Eto'o and $87m.

Yes, Eto'o is a difficult character and Josep Guardiola wanted him out, but he scored 30 goals in the league last season and has performed well in five seasons at the club.

Eto'o will undoubtedly score goals in Serie A. He works very hard and is never scared to put in the hard yards - we saw that in the Champions League final.

Yes, there are question marks over his character, but he's an extremely proud guy and will be determined to prove himself in Milan

Eto'o is also only one year older than Ibrahimovic, so it's not like Barca are getting rid of a significantly older player for a much younger one.

And let's not forget that Ibrahimovic has not done it in the Champions League. In contrast, Eto'o has scored in the two finals he has played in.

Inter are losing their top scorer, but they are the winners in this deal.

What do you think? Who will win La Liga - Madrid, Barca, another team - and why? What do you think of the Galactico policy? How will Madrid fit Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema into the team? Should Madrid get rid of all their Dutch players? Will Madrid get further than the last 16 in the Champions League this season? Is the Ibrahimovic deal better for Barca or Inter? Who else should Madrid sign? Can Lassana Diarra do as good a job as Claude Makelele did in the first Galactico era? Is Madrid's defence vulnerable? How much do you love football?

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Discuss your value for money buys for your team, or maybe you want to keep those to yourself and lead others astray with some dodgy picks.

It was all set up for Australia to crash through England's final batsmen, but somehow Monty Panesar and James Anderson defied logic to squeeze out a draw after enduring 69 gut-wrenching, terrifying deliveries.

Both tailenders and their captain Andrew Strauss admitted later they were surprised to see Ricky Ponting turn to the unlikely spin of Marcus North at the death. So was everyone else.

With one wicket to capture, surely Ponting's priority was to take the wicket, rather than churn through as many overs as possible.

It's quite difficult to understand why Mitchell Johnson or Ben Hilfenhaus weren't sent in to intimidate then extricate one of England's saviours. The pair themselves admitted they were happier to see North come in, and proceeded to smother his full deliveries and leave his shorter, wide efforts.

Ponting also persisted with Nathan Hauritz at the other end, when it was clear Panesar and Anderson were growing more comfortable against him with each ball.

With time running out Ponting resisted the urge to turn back to pace - even though Peter Siddle had taken the key wicket of Paul Collingwood 12 overs earlier and Hauritz bowled from the 88th to 105th overs without success.

Michael Clarke or Simon Katich surely would have posed more threat than North and a weary Hauritz by that stage.

England took just six wickets in the match - Australia 19. No England batsman scored more than Collingwood's second innings total of 74 - four Australians scored centuries in their only dig at the crease.

But with this result, the teams stand equal.

Was this a case of Ponting blowing the chance to go 1-0 with poor captaincy, or were England simply far too determined?Jamie Pandaram